Artificial stone construction material and method of making

ABSTRACT

An artificial stone building tile and method. Disclosed is an artificial stone building tile and a method of making the building tile. The building tile has a low density and significant flexibility, and is nailable without cracking. It is made by layers of cement formulations separated by layers of metal mesh. Color batches of cement are prepared and placed in the bottom of a mold, with the color batches becoming the visible face of the building tile.

PRIORITY/CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.62/129,620 filed Mar. 6, 2015, the disclosure of which is incorporatedby reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The presently disclosed technology relates to building materials ingeneral and more specifically to an artificial stone material and amethod of making it.

BACKGROUND

It is desirable in building materials to have a wall covering or tilewhich has the appearance of stone. Stone is an attractive and durablematerial but is expensive to cut, heavy to transport, and difficult toinstall. Part of the problem with installation is that it is held uptypically by adhesive, and the adhesive may not be strong enough to holdthe stone tile in place, especially in the case of earthquake ortremors. Stone cannot be nailed in place, and drilling a hole for amounting screw is expensive.

It is desirable to have a building material in the form of a slab or atile which has the appearance of stone, but which is lighter than stone,easier to install and has more flexibility than stone.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The purpose of the Summary is to enable the public, and especially thescientists, engineers, and practitioners in the art who are not familiarwith patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from acursory inspection, the nature and essence of the technical disclosureof the application. The Summary is neither intended to define theinventive concept(s) of the application, which is measured by theclaims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of theinventive concept(s) in any way.

The disclosed technology is a method for making an artificial stonebuilding tile, and it is also the stone building tile of the compositionand structure defined in the claims and in this disclosure. The methodof making the artificial stone building tile results in a lightweighttile or slab which has the appearance of artificial stone and which hasother characteristics which are highly desirable in a building material.Slab, tile and trim piece will be referred to interchangeably. Theartificial stone building tile has a certain amount of flexibility, anda four foot long slab of this building material has a flex of at least 1¼ inches to 1 ½ inches. It is also fairly light, having a density offour pounds per square foot. This density is highly desirable comparedto other building materials which might be used in the same situation.For instance, stucco which has a density of ten pounds per square foot,marble which has a density of seven pounds per square foot, sheetrockwhich has a density of 2.2 pounds per square foot. Granite of a similarthickness (½ inch) has a density of 6.5 pounds per square foot.

The first step of the method is to place a mold on a flat workingsurface. The working surface can be a floor or a table or somethinghorizontal. The mold will vary depending on the size of the tile to bemade, but as an example, an artificial stone building tile of 24 inchesby 96 inches, ½ inch thick will be described. The mold will be 24 inchesby 96 inches and have side walls approximately 1 inch tall, and abottom, but not a top. The mold is preferably made of wood, rubber,plastic or other material selected for its ability to easily release thetile from the mold, but other materials which have a similarreleaseability from the tile are also suitable.

With the mold placed on a horizontal surface, one or more color pastesare mixed up to a consistency of yogurt. The color pastes are made up ofstone powder, cement, water, pigment, and a glue. The stone powder canbe made from any type of stone: marble, granite, pumice, quartz, orchalk. Other stone powders are also suitable for this composition. Thecement is preferably white cement as exemplified by Lehigh brand. Thepigment is a water soluble pigment and can be selected to simulate manydifferent stone surfaces, and therefore batches can be made up havingmany different colors. Typically a number of color mixes will beprepared and placed side-by-side without intermixing in the bottom ofthe mold. Pigments such as those sold as Levanile Company and made foruse in cement are suitable. The stone powder is preferably ultrafine insize and less than 200 mesh.

The color pastes are made of different batches of color, and addedtogether onto the bottom of the mold with possible swirling orintermixing or the option of keeping some or all of the colors separate.The particular mix of ingredients would typically be:

45 pounds of ounces of stone powder

25 pounds of mixture of white Portland cement plus metakaolin (up to 10%of the cement by weight)

Sufficient water to bring mixture to the consistency of yogurt, roughly1100 cp

5 ounces or more of pigment, highly variable depending on the colorbeing achieved

One gallon of “glue”

The glue is for the purpose of adding to bond strength, and a suitableglue is Concrete Bonder and Fortifier made by Sakrete.

The Metakaolin is exemplified by a product made by Advance CementTechnologies, and is an optional ingredient. More metakaolin is used ina mix if additional bonding and strength is desired.

Once each of the color pastes are mixed up, they are added to the bottomof the mold with possible swirling together or retained in color regionsthat are kept separate, depending on the appearance of the stone that isdesired.

The next step of the method is placing a layer of metal mesh on top ofthe color layer in the mold. The metal mesh is sized to substantiallyfill the mold from side to side. At this point the color layer wouldstill be liquid, in about the consistency of yogurt, and the layer ofmetal mesh would be placed lightly on top so that it does not pressthrough the color layer to the bottom of the mold. Whatever is on thebottom of the mold will become the side of the tile which is visibleonce it is placed on a wall.

The preferred metal mesh is an expanded sheet of aluminum that hasdiamond shaped holes which are approximately ¼ inch from side to side.This provides some reinforcement between the layers and gives the tilerigidity yet retaining flexibility. Other types of mesh could also beused such as woven metal mesh.

The next step is mixing a backing layer which is made up of stonepowder, cement, and water, and may optionally also contain pigment. Thebacking layer is also mixed to the consistency approximately of yogurt,which is defined as approximately 1100 cp, and the same mix of cement,stone powder, pigment (optional) and glue and water are used. In thebacking layer the stone powder is made up of about 50:50 fine powder andlarger particles of up to ⅛ inch in size.

The first backing layer may have larger pieces of stone in it, such as ⅛inch. Additional backing layers may be used, and each backing layerwould have larger stones mixed with stone powder. A second backing layerwould typically have stone particles of ¼ inch, a third backing layerwould have stone particles of ⅜ inch, and a fourth backing layer wouldhave stone particles of ½ inch. The first backing layer is added on topof the metal mesh layer, and the presence of the metal mesh layerbetween the color layer and the backing layer prevents the two layersfrom freely intermixing. Thus the color layer will not be disturbed byor blended into the backing layer. The two layers in the metal mesh areallowed to dry in the mold for approximately 24-48 hours, at which timethe artificial stone tile may be removed from the mold by turning themold upside down and applying a minimal amount of impact.

The preferred thickness of the color layer is approximately ¼ inchthick, which is the same preferred thickness as the thickness of thebacking layer. Additional layers can be added by adding a second metalmesh layer on top of the backing layer, and adding a second backinglayer on top of the second metal mesh layer. In this way, slabs or tilescan be ½ inch, ¾ inch, 1 inch, 1 ¼ inch, etc. up to whatever thicknessis desired. The ½ half inch thick slab would have three layers: color,metal mesh, and backing. The ¾ inch thick slab would have five layers,to the half inch thick slab would be added a second metal mesh layer anda second ¼ inch backing layer. In this way increments of ¼ inch caneasily be added, and retain the flexibility of the ½ inch slab as wellas lightweight and nailability. When cured, the stone slab thus createdmay be polished with sandpaper to have a smooth and hard surface,similar to marble in hardness and appearance.

A big advantage to this building material is that adhesive may be placedon a vertical wall, and the building material can be placed on theadhesive. The problem with leaving it at this step is that a stone slabwould tend to slide down the wall or fall off of the adhesive. This issolved in this building material by the building material being of alighter weight for one, and less likely to slide down the adhesive, anda very minimal amount of nailing can used to secure the buildingmaterial against the wall until the adhesive cures. Nailing wouldtypically be by a finished nail which has a very small or no head, thiscan be nailed into and through the tile of the disclosed technology, anda very few nails can secure the tile onto the wall until the adhesivecures. The nail heads will be very minimal and inconspicuous and can becovered by a colored paste so that they are invisible.

Besides being attachable to a vertical wall, the slab thus made be usedin a horizontal application, such as a counter top or as floor tile.

The technology also involves the artificial stone building tile madefrom the method described above. The building tile has a colored layermade up of at least one colored cement mix, with the color layer ofstone powder, cement, pigment and glue. Adjacent to the color layer is ametal mesh layer which is formed in the tile while the color layer andthe backing layer are liquid. The backing layer is adjacent to the metalmesh layer and is embedded around the metal mesh layer. The color layerof the artificial building tile is made up of the mix as described inthe method above. The stone powder used in creating the artificialbuilding stone can be selected from marble powder, granite powder,pumice powder, quartz powder, chalk or other stone powder or powders.The artificial stone building tile can also have multiple layers, witheach layer adding a layer of metal mesh and an additional backing layer.

Still other features and advantages of the presently disclosed andclaimed inventive concept(s) will become readily apparent to thoseskilled in this art from the following detailed description describingpreferred embodiments of the inventive concept(s), simply by way ofillustration of the best mode contemplated by carrying out the inventiveconcept(s). As will be realized, the inventive concept(s) is capable ofmodification in various obvious respects all without departing from theinventive concept(s). Accordingly, the drawings and description of thepreferred embodiments are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, andnot as restrictive in nature.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an artificial stone building tile of thedisclosed technology.

FIG. 2 an end view perspective view of an artificial stone building tileof the disclosed technology.

FIG. 3 an end view perspective view of an artificial stone building tileof the disclosed technology.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the outer surface of the artificial stonebuilding tile of the disclosed technology.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing several steps of the method ofmaking the artificial stone building tile of the disclosed technology.

FIG. 6 a cross sectional view of an artificial stone building tile ofthe disclosed technology, showing the tile in the mold.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing the steps of method of making andinstalling the artificial stone building tile of the disclosedtechnology.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the expanded metal mesh of theartificial stone building tile of the disclosed technology.

FIG. 9 is a top view of a cross section of a trim piece surrounding acolumn.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a trim piece for installation on acolumn.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

While the presently disclosed inventive concept(s) is susceptible ofvarious modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustratedembodiments thereof have been shown in the drawings and will bedescribed below in detail. It should be understood, however, that thereis no intention to limit the inventive concept(s) to the specific formdisclosed, but, on the contrary, the presently disclosed and claimedinventive concept(s) is to cover all modifications, alternativeconstructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope ofthe inventive concept(s) as defined in the claims.

FIG. 1 shows an example of an artificial stone tile or slab madeaccording to the technology defined in the claims and the disclosure.Shown in FIG. 1 is an artificial stone building tile 10 made accordingto the disclosed technology. This particular building tile is an exampleof a typical dimension that might be made, which could be 2 feet by 4feet and ½ inch thick. Other dimensions are possible, such as 24 inchesby 24 inches and up to 4 feet by 8 feet by 1.2 inch thick. The abilityto make this slab this large, and this thin, makes this method and slabunlike any other. When finished slab is hard enough to be polished to afinish like polished stone, and it can be nailed without cracking, andhas a good deal of flexibility. It is far lighter than real stone.

FIG. 2 is an end view of one type of construction slab according to thepresent technology. FIG. 2 shows a color layer 12 adjacent to a layer ofmetal mesh 14 beyond which is a first backing layer 16. The tile formedin FIG. 2 also has a second layer of metal mesh 18 and a second backinglayer 20.

The version of the building tile shown in FIG. 3 has a color layer 12and metal mesh layer 14 and a backing layer 16. If these layers are ¼inch in depth, the tile shown in FIG. 3 would be approximately ½ inch inthickness. The tile shown in FIG. 2 would be approximately ¾ inch inthickness.

FIG. 4 shows one possible configuration of the color layer 12. In thisconfiguration four different batches of colored cement mix have beenapplied and are presented in discreet sections in the color layer. Forinstance one color could be shade of green, another color could be ashade of gray, another color could have elements of red in it andanother color could have elements of yellow in it. These would beformulated to achieve the desired appearance of artificial stone. Thedifferent colored cement mixes can be placed in discreet regions asshown in FIG. 4, or they can be blended together according to whateverstyle of artificial stone is desired.

FIG. 5 shows several steps of the method of making the artificial stonedisclosed in the claims and disclosure. Shown is a mold 22, which couldbe sized according to the desired size of the tile being made. Forinstance, it could be 2 feet by 4 feet for a ratio as shown in FIG. 1,or it could be 24 inches by 24 inches, or any other dimensions that thetile is desired to formed in. The mold 22 is a four sided structurewhich has four side walls 24 and a bottom 25. Side walls 24 wouldtypically be approximately 1 inch in height. The mold 22 is preferablymade of plastic or other materials which have a similar rigidity andreleasability of the tile which is formed therein. Shown in FIG. 5 is astep 26 in which one or more color pastes 28 are prepared and added tothe mold 22. The color pastes are made up of stone powder, a mixture ofcement and metakaolin, water, pigment, and glue. The stone powder ismade up of particles with a mesh size less than 200 mesh.

The particular mix of ingredients for the color layer would typicallybe:

45 pounds of ounces of stone powder,

25 pounds of mixture of white Portland cement plus metakaolin (up to 10%of the cement by weight). The metakaolin is exemplified by the productfrom Advance Cement Technologies, and is an optional ingredient. Moremetakaolin is used in a mix if more strength in the product is desired.

Sufficient water to bring mixture to the consistency of yogurt, roughly1100 cp

5 oz or more of pigment, highly variable depending on the color beingachieved.

One gallon of “glue.”

The glue is for the purpose of adding to bond strength, and a suitableglue is Concrete Bonder and Fortifier made by Sakrete. Additional glueis added as an additive to concrete mix to increase its adhesion, impactstrength and abrasion resistance.

A workable range of the ratios of these ingredients would be 40-50 lbsof stone power, 20-30 lbs of cement plus metakaolin mix, water andpigment to desired consistency and color, and 3-5 quarts of glue.

Once each of the color pastes are mixed up they are added to the bottomof the mold with possible swirling together or retained in color regionsthat are kept separate, depending on the appearance of the stone that isdesired.

The next step of the method is shown as 32, placing a layer of metalmesh 34 on top of the color layer in the mold 22. The metal mesh issized to substantially fill the mold from side to side. At this pointthe color layer would still be liquid, in about the consistency ofyogurt, and the layer of metal mesh would be placed lightly on top sothat it does not press through the color layer to the bottom of themold. Whatever is on the bottom of the mold will become the side of thetile which is visible once it is placed on a wall. The visible side isdesignated 44.

The preferred metal mesh 34 is an expanded sheet of aluminum that hasdiamond shaped holes which are approximately ¼ inch from side to side.This provides reinforcement between the layers and gives the tilerigidity yet retaining flexibility and resisting cracking. Other typesof mesh could also be used such as woven metal mesh.

The next step is shown as 36, and is mixing a first backing layer 16which is made up of stone powder and granules, cement, and water, andmay optionally also contain pigment. The backing layer is also mixed tothe consistency approximately of yogurt, which is defined asapproximately 1100 cp, and the same mix of cement, stone powder, pigment(optional) and glue and water are used. In the backing layer the stonepowder material is made up of about 50:50 fine powder and largerparticles, up to ⅛ inch in size.

Additional backing layers may be used, and each backing layer would havelarger stones mixed with stone powder. A second backing layer 20 wouldtypically have stone particles of ¼″, a third backing layer would havestone particles of ⅜ inch, and a fourth backing layer would have stoneparticles of ½ inch. The first backing layer is added on top of themetal mesh layer, and the presence of the metal mesh layer between thecolor layer and the backing layer prevents the two layers from freelyintermixing. Thus the color layer will not be disturbed by or blendedinto the backing layer. The two layers in the metal mesh are allowed todry in the mold for approximately 24-48 hours, at which time theartificial stone tile may be removed from the mold by turning the moldupside down and applying a minimal amount of impact.

The preferred thickness of the color layer is approximately ¼ inchthick, which is the same preferred thickness as the thickness of thebacking layer. Additional layers can be added by adding a second metalmesh layer on top of the backing layer, and adding a second backinglayer on top of the second metal mesh layer. In this way, slabs or tilescan be ½ inch, ¾ inch, 1 inch, 1 ¼ inch, etc. up to whatever thicknessis desired. The ½ half inch thick slab would have three layers: color,metal mesh, and backing. The ¾ inch thick slab would have five layers,to the half inch thick slab would be added a second metal mesh layer anda second ¼ inch backing layer. In this way increments of ¼ inch caneasily be added, and retain the flexibility of the ½ inch slab as wellas lightweight and nailability. When cured, the stone slab thus createdmay be polished with sandpaper to have a smooth and hard surface,similar to marble in hardness and appearance.

FIG. 5 also shows the step of adding at least one color paste to form acolor layer on the bottom of the mold at 30. Also shown is the step 32in which a metal mesh 34 is added to the mold on top of the color layer12 on the bottom of the mold. The metal mesh serves to prevent mixing ofthe color layer with subsequent layers of backing layers, and adds aflexible reinforcement. The metal mesh layer 34 is made up of a sheet ofmetal mesh sized to fit wall to wall with the sidewalls of the mold 22.A preferred metal mesh is expanded aluminum which is cut to fit thedimensions of the mold 22. Shown in FIG. 5 is the step of adding thebacking layer 36 at step 38 to the mold on top of the metal mesh layer34.

FIG. 6 shows the mold 22 fully assembled with the ingredients to make a5 layer tile. The 5 layers of this tile include a color layer 12, ametal mesh 14, a backing layer 16, a second metal mesh 18, and a secondbacking layer 20. A slab with more layers is also possible. When thematerial is cured, the mold is turned upside down and the cured tiledrops out of the mold. The first face of the color layer which isdesignated 44 will have whatever colors were selected and will faceoutward from the wall to which it is attached.

The resulting slab is sufficiently rigid to allow installation on aceiling without the slab becoming dislodged by its own weight. The slabor tile created by this technology has significant flexibility, and afour foot long section of slab has the ability to flex 1 ¼ to 1 ½inches. It has a density of approximately 4 pounds per square foot. Theflexibility allows a slab of this technology to be precast or stretchedinto a semi-round slab or a semi-spherical slab without cracking. Theslab thus formed is also hard enough to be polished like real stone, andhas a Mohr hardness about the same as marble.

FIG. 7 shows an additional step in the installation of a slab of thistechnology which includes an artificial stone construction material 10which is attached to the wall of a building 46, by use of nails 48, withthe facing side 44 available for polishing. Typically the nails would befinish nails without a head and could be slightly counter sunk, with thenail holes patched with a colored cement paste which matches the surfaceof the color layer 44.

Shown in FIG. 8 is a square of expanded metal mesh 34, which preferablyis expanded aluminum with gaps approximately ¼ inch from edge to edge.Other types of metal mesh can also be used, such as woven wire meshes.

The artificial stone is made in slabs which are 24 inches×24 inches orin larger dimensions. The minimum thickness is ½ inch and can be thickerthan ½ inch, such as ¾ inch, 1 inch, 2 inch and thicker. In largerthicknesses, the structure of a 1 ½ inch layer is repeated multipletimes.

The method involves using a mold or form which has a bottom surface and4 sides, and is open on the top. What is poured into the bottom of theform will become the visible surface of a slab of artificial stone. Oneway to make a slab that has the appearance of real stone is to lay downthe first layer of material with several different formulations, whicheach dry with different texture and color. These formulations are allbased on a mixture of cement, but may be water based or oil based, toachieve a different surface texture and color.

The different textures and colors combine to create a product which hasthe appearance of real stone. The first layer placed into the form canhave multiple formulations, and is poured to a depth of about ¼ inch. Itis a cement formulation with water, and may include marble powder,chalk, or pumice powder, as examples. The preferred particle size of thepowder is greater than 100, with a range of 100 to 200 being suitable. Aparticle size of 120 mesh is preferred. Colors in paste or powder can beadded to this layer, or placed on the bottom of the mold to be picked upby the cement of the first layer.

There will be three layers of poured material in the mold in order tomake ½ inch thick slab. Each of these layers will be separated by alayer of metal lath. After the first layer is poured to the preferredthickness, a sheet of metal lath is placed over the first layer. Metallath is a type of expanded metal mesh, made of aluminum, and has agenerally diamond or rhomboid shaped hole. It is made by slitting andstretching a sheet of metal to form the mesh. A preferred type of metallath is that made by AMICO which is a flat diamond mesh lath. Othertypes and brands of metal mesh would also work. One purpose of the metalmesh is to prevent the first layer of color and powder plus cement frombeing diluted with layers of materials that are applied later.

Over the layer of metal lath, another layer of cement formulation isplaced, and smoothed out to a level surface. This material of the secondand subsequent layers will not be visible when installed, so it can bemade of one formulation of cement material. On top of that layer, whilethe 2^(nd) layer is still wet and has not cured, a second layer of metalmesh is placed. The metal mesh is placed so that the holes on the twodifferent layers of metal mesh do not line up. This can be accomplishedby having the different layers of metal mesh turned 90 degrees to eachother, or by moving the metal mesh to one side so that the holes do notline up.

A third layer of cement material in then placed over the top of thesecond layer of metal lath, and the three layers of cement and the twolayers of metal lath are allowed to dry.

The slab thus created is removed from the mold, and has thecharacteristic that it can be nailed to a wall. It can be nailed intoplywood, or preferably into a stud in a wall. This material has thecharacteristic that is can have the appearance of natural stone, has acertain amount of flex but will not crack, and returns to its restingshape. For instance, a sheet approximately 4 feet long and 4 inchestall, can flex approximately ¼ inch in the middle without cracking, andwill return to its original shape.

Materials that can be used in the various layers of cement formulationcan include White cement, pumice, glue, pigment layers, crushed granite,crushed limestone, crushed crystals, or crushed stones. All of these canbe held together in a matrix of cement, which can be an oil based orwater based cement.

A large slab of this material can be made and cut into smaller squares.The material is made in a horizontal orientation and when finished canbe nailed in a vertical position. The nailing process does not crack thematerial, and the weight is much lighter than real stone, and thesurface appearance is that of natural stone.

Shown in FIG. 9 is a top view is a cross section of the disclosedtechnology used as a three sided trim piece or collar used to surround avertical column on three sides. A form 50 is created which will definethe exterior shape of the trim piece. The trim piece 52 will fit arounda column which in this case is shown as a square column.

A first layer of color material 12 is placed in the interior sides ofthe form 50. The color layer 12 is equivalent to the color layer 12 of aslab type material. It has the same constituents but is mixed with waterto the consistency of plaster, so that is sticks to the vertical innersides of the form 50. A first layer 12 is applied, then a layer of wiremesh 34 is applied. A first backing layer 16 is formed on top of thewire mesh 34, in the interior of the form 50. The second backing layertypically would have the stone powder portion of the ingredients to alsoinclude larger pieces of the stone, such as ⅛ inch. The stone powderportion would thus be 50% fine powdered stone powder and 50% largerpieces of ⅛ inch. Each of the backing layers would be separated by alayer of metal mesh 34.

The second backing layer 20 would be made up of 20% fine stone powder,40% ⅛″ aggregate, and 40% ¼ inch aggregate.

The third backing layer 54 would be made up of 20% ⅛ inch particles, 40%¼ inch pieces, and 40% ⅜ inch particles of stone.

The fourth backing layer 56 would be 10% ⅛ inch stone pieces, 30% ¼ inchaggregate, 30% ⅜ inch aggregate, and 30% ½ Inch aggregate. Each layerwould be separated by a layer of metal mesh 34.

Attaching screws or bolts 58 would be embedded in the trim piece 52 asthe layers are built up. The interior of the trim would be shaped to fita particular column, such as by use of a place holding form insert 60.When removed from the form, the face surface 44 first layer can besanded with 350 grit sandpaper to achieve a polished surface similar topolished stone, yet retain light weight. Although hard enough to bepolished like marble, it can be nailed without cracking.

FIG. 10 shows the trim piece 52 after it has been removed from the mold50.

While certain preferred embodiments are shown in the figures anddescribed in this disclosure, it is to be distinctly understood that thepresently disclosed inventive concept(s) is not limited thereto but maybe variously embodied to practice within the scope of the followingclaims. From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that variouschanges may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of thedisclosure as defined by the following claims.

I claim:
 1. A method of making an artificial stone building slab,comprising the steps of: placing a generally rectangular mold on aworking surface, said mold having a bottom and sidewalls, and having anopen top; mixing one or more color pastes comprised of stone powder,cement, water and pigment, with said stone powder comprised of particlesof a mesh size less than 200; adding said at least one color paste toform a color layer to said mold; placing a layer of metal mesh on top ofsaid color layer in said mold, said metal mesh sized to substantiallyfill the interior of the 4 sided mold; mixing a first backing layerusing a mixture of stone powder of less than 200 mesh and stoneparticles approximately ⅛ inch in size, cement and water; adding saidfirst backing layer on top of said metal mesh in said mold; allowingsaid color layer and said first backing layers to cure into anartificial stone building slab, and removing said artificial stonebuilding slab from said mold; forming when cured an artificial stonebuilding slab having flexibility to allow at least 1 ¼ inch of flex in a48 inch piece, and a density of approximately 4 lb per square foot, anda Mohr hardness of 3-4 which permits polishing like stone.
 2. The methodof making an artificial stone building slab of claim 1, in which thestep of adding at least one color paste to form a color layer results ina color layer approximately ¼ inch thick.
 3. The method of making anartificial stone building slab of claim 1, in which the step of addingsaid first backing layer on top of said metal mesh results in a firstbacking layer approximately ¼ inch thick.
 4. The method of making anartificial stone building slab of claim 1, which further comprises thesteps of adding a 2^(nd) layer of metal mesh on top of said backinglayer; and adding a second backing layer on top of said 2^(nd) layer ofmetal mesh, with said second backing layer comprised of approximately20% fine stone powder, approximately 40% ⅛ inch aggregate, andapproximately 40% ¼ inch aggregate.
 5. The method of making anartificial stone building slab of claim 4, which further comprises thesteps of adding a third layer of metal mesh on top of said secondbacking layer; and adding a third backing layer on top of said thirdlayer of metal mesh, with said third backing layer comprised ofapproximately 20% ⅛ inch particles, approximately 40% ¼ inch pieces, andapproximately 40% ⅜ inch particles of stone.
 6. The method of making anartificial stone building slab of claim 5, which further comprises thesteps of adding a fourth layer of metal mesh on top of said thirdbacking layer; and adding a fourth backing layer comprised ofapproximately 10% ⅛ inch stone pieces, 30% ¼ inch aggregate, 30% ⅜ inchaggregate, and 30% ½ inch aggregate.
 7. The method of making anartificial stone building slab of claim 1, in which said step of formingan artificial stone building slab results in a building slab which maybe nailed in place without cracking.
 8. The method of making anartificial stone building slab of claim 1 in which said stone powder isselected from the group consisting of marble powder, granite powder,pumice powder, quartz powder, or chalk.
 9. The method of making anartificial stone building slab of claim 1 in which said ratio to stonepowder mix to cement mix is approximately 45 to
 25. 10. Method of makingan artificial stone building material comprising steps of: placing agenerally rectangular mold on a working surface, said mold having abottom and sidewalls, and having an open top; mixing one or more colorpastes comprised of stone powder, cement, water and pigment, with saidstone powder comprised of particles of a mesh size less than 200; addingsaid at least one color paste to form a color layer to said mold;placing a layer of metal mesh on top of said color layer in said mold,said metal mesh sized to extend from sidewall to sidewall of said mold;mixing a first backing layer using a stone mixture of stone powder ofless than 200 mesh and stone particles approximately ⅛ inch in size, inapproximately equal proportions of stone powder to stone particles, pluscement and water, with a ratio of stone mixture to cement ofapproximately 45 to 25; adding said first backing layer on top of saidmetal mesh in said mold; allowing said color layer and backing layers todry into an artificial stone building slab, and removing said artificialstone building slab from said mold; with said artificial stone buildingslab having flexibility to allow at least 1 ¼ inch of flex in a 48 inchpiece, and a density of approximately 4 lb per square foot.
 11. Themethod of making an artificial stone building material of claim 10 whichfurther comprises the steps of: applying adhesive to a vertical wallsurface; and placing said artificial building slab on said vertical wallsurface, and nailing said artificial building slab to said vertical wallsurface.
 12. The method of making an artificial stone building slab ofclaim 10 in which said stone powder is selected from the groupconsisting of marble powder, granite powder, pumice powder, quartzpowder, or chalk.
 13. The method of making an artificial stone buildingslab of claim 10 which further comprises the steps of adding a secondlayer of metal mesh to said first backing layer, and adding a secondbacking layer on top of said 2^(nd) layer of metal mesh, with saidsecond backing layer comprised of approximately 20% fine stone powder,approximately 40% ⅛ inch aggregate, and approximately 40% 1/4 inchaggregate.
 14. The method of making an artificial stone building slab ofclaim 13, which further comprises the steps of adding a third layer ofmetal mesh on top of said second backing layer; and adding a thirdbacking layer on top of said third layer of metal mesh, with said thirdbacking layer comprised of approximately 20% ⅛ inch particles,approximately 40% ¼ inch pieces, and approximately 40% ⅜ inch particlesof stone.
 15. The method of making an artificial stone building slab ofclaim 14, which further comprises the steps of adding a fourth layer ofmetal mesh on top of said third backing layer; and adding a fourthbacking layer comprised of approximately 10% ⅛ inch stone pieces, 30% ¼inch aggregate, 30% ⅜ inch aggregate, and 30% ½ inch aggregate.
 16. Anartificial stone building slab, comprising: a color layer made up of atleast one colored cement mix, comprised of stone powder, cement, pigmentand a glue, said color layer configured for placement on a vertical wallsurface facing away from said vertical wall surface; a metal mesh layerembedded between said color layer and a backing layer; a backing layeradjacent to said metal mesh layer, configured for placement against saidvertical wall and made up of stone mix comprised of half stone powderand half stone pieces less than ⅛ inch in size; with said artificialstone building slab having flexibility to allow at least 1 ¼ inches offlex in a 48 inch piece, and a density of approximately 4 lb per squarefoot, and a hardness of greater than Mohr 3 to allow sanding of saidslab, and said slab being sufficiently resilient to allow nailingwithout cracking.
 17. The artificial stone building slab of claim 16 inwhich said color layer is comprised of 45 units of stone powder and 25units of cement.
 18. The artificial stone building slab of claim 16 inwhich said stone powder is selected from the group consisting of marblepowder, granite powder, pumice powder, quartz powder, or chalk.
 19. Theartificial stone building slab of claim 16 which further comprises a2^(nd) metal mesh layer against said backing layer, and a 2^(nd) backinglayer over said 2^(nd) metal mesh layer.